1. Poster Assignments
Promoting Critical Thinking, Design Literacy, and Rhetorical Awareness
Leeann Hunter
A p r i l 8 , 2 0 1 3
Clinical Assistant Professor leeann.hunter@wsu.edu
Department of English www.leeannhunter.com
Washington State University Twitter: @ldhunter

2. Poster Assignments: Agenda
Part 1. Cognitive Benefits
What is a poster, and what can we gain from a
poster assignment?
Part 2. Sample Assignment
How are posters relevant to the Arts &
Humanities? What might an assignment look like?
Part 3. Poster Exhibits
What do we do with the posters when we’re
done? Why should we exhibit them?

4. Cognitive Benefits of Poster
Assignments
• Focus and sort important concepts and details
• Categorize concepts according to qualitative
characteristics
• Compare and contrast categories of information
• Draw conclusions from aggregated research
• Communicate concepts in linguistic, visual, and spatial
modes

5. Create Emphasis
In a world overwhelmed by
too much information, you
must create EMPHASIS in
your materials so that you
can:
• Attract your intended
audience
• Make your message
heard.
Image: “Information Is Beautiful”
By jamjar on Flickr Creative Commons

6. Emphasis: Linguistic Expression
Guitars Special Bass Guitar
Clarissa has many guitars. She Among Clarissa’s many guitars, a
likes to play them all. She likes single one stands out: the sleek
to play the sleek mahogany bass mahogany body of her bass
guitar. guitar.
1. Clarissa has many guitars. 1. Among Clarissa’s many
2. She likes to play them all. guitars, 
3. She likes to play the sleek 2. a single one stands out: 
mahogany bass guitar. 3. the sleek mahogany bass
guitar.

7. Emphasis: Visual Expression
Photographs: Nick Lee, WSU Student

8. Multimodal Processing
“Trying to capture the movement “If we restrict students to word-
of a deer on ice in language is based planning activities (for
clearly a kind of translation. Even generating ideas, for defining
when the planning process rhetorical purpose, for analyzing
represents one’s thoughts in
words, that representation is audience), we may be unduly
unlikely to be in the elaborate limiting their ability to think deeply
syntax of written English. So the about their rhetorical tasks.”
writer’s task is to translate a
meaning.”
--Jason Palmeri, Remixing
Composition: A History of
--Linda Flower and John Hayes, Multimodal Writing Pedagogy
“A Cognitive Process Theory of (2012)
Writing” (1981)

9. The Standard Essay
Students shape their ideas into a
linguistic mode of expression that
has specific expectations:
• An introduction that makes an
argument and announces the
topic.
• Body paragraphs that support
the thesis in well-organized
individual units
• A conclusion that leaves the
reader with a full sense of the
supported argument.
Source: CDU Learn Online

10. The Burger Essay
Notice how we are using visual
and spatial reasoning to teach the
standard essay format.
Source: SparkNotes, Guide to SAT Writing

11. The Poster Essay:
Spatial Reasoning
By design, students organize their
ideas spatially, categorizing each
element of their overall project.
Each area is visually expressive—
the main content is
communicated in an instant—
and any shortcomings in the main
argument and supporting areas
are quickly revealed.
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Writing Center

12. Literature Pedagogy
A Spring 2013 Workshop Series
Organized by The English Graduate Organization
Organization of Fe b r u a r y 2 2 , 2 0 1 3
Data
Literature Pedagogy Workshop
Course Design
Course Design
Sp e a k e r s
English Graduate Organization
Dr. Donna Campbell
Spring 2013
Dr. Bimbisar Irom
Speaker: Dr. Campbell
Speaker: Dr. Irom M od era tor
Dr. Todd Butler
Moderator: Dr. Butler
February 22, 2013 Bu n d y Rea d in g Room
12:10-1:00 1 2 :1 0 - 1 :0 0
Bundy Reading Room All graduate students, instructors, faculty, and staff are welcome!
All are welcome to attend For more information, contact Aree Metz (a.metz@wsu.edu)
Contact information Workshop materials and podcasts will be made available at:
Website information http://litpedagogy.omeka.net

13. 2
Literature Pedagogy
A Spring 2013 Workshop Series
Organized by The English Graduate Organization
1
Hierarchy of Data Fe b r u a r y 2 2 , 2 0 1 3
Level 1: Discussion Topic, Variable
Course Design
Level 2: Series Title, Fixed
Sp e a k e r s
Level 3: Featured Speakers
Dr. Donna Campbell
Level 4: Time and Location
Dr. Bimbisar Irom 3
Level 5: Details
M od era tor
Dr. Todd Butler
Bu n d y Rea d in g Room
1 2 :1 0 - 1 :0 0
4
All graduate students, instructors, faculty, and staff are welcome!
For more information, contact Aree Metz (a.metz@wsu.edu)
Workshop materials and podcasts will be made available at:
http://litpedagogy.omeka.net
5

14. Literature Pedagogy
A Spring 2013 Workshop Series
Organized by The English Graduate Organization
Parallel Data Fe b r u a r y 2 2 , 2 0 1 3
Workshop Series
Course Design
Workshop Series Details
Sp e a k e r s
Dr. Donna Campbell
Discussion Topic
Dr. Bimbisar Irom
Featured Speakers
M od era tor
Dr. Todd Butler
Date
Location and Time Bu n d y Rea d in g Room
1 2 :1 0 - 1 :0 0
All graduate students, instructors, faculty, and staff are welcome!
For more information, contact Aree Metz (a.metz@wsu.edu)
Workshop materials and podcasts will be made available at:
http://litpedagogy.omeka.net

16. Posters in the
Arts and Humanities
Special Considerations

17. Inspiration
Roger Whitson hosted a poster
exhibit during Spring 2009 at
Georgia Tech.
His students showcased their
research in the Salman Rushdie
archives at Emory University.

18. Poster Assignment:
Studies in the Humanities
Work in small groups to design
two digital posters that represent
your perspectives on ruin in the
long nineteenth century. One
poster will be creative and the
other poster will be academic.
Selected Objectives
• Synthesize the work you have
produced this semester into a
compact visual presentation
• Communicate your scholarly
production to a public
audience
http://www.leeannhunter.com/humanities/

19. Poster 1: Creative
• Genre: creative and
contemporary, exhibiting the
original work of group
members.
• Content: your best creative
work this semester, revised if
necessary.
• Format: a creative and
expressive design that best
highlights your artistic
visions.

22. Poster 2: Academic
• Genre: analytical and
historical, highlighting
literature, art, and philosophy
that has inspired you this
semester.
• Content: critical reflections on
the art presented in Poster 1.
• Format: designed as a
companion to the creative
piece, but the information
should be presented in a
traditional 3-column format.

24. Sample Content Areas
in the Arts and Humanities
• Argument or thesis
• Theoretical framework
• Methodology
• Research
• Historical events
• Texts or artworks
• Artist statements
• Contemporary media

26. Poster Exhibits

27. Poster Presentation: Nonverbal
1. Dress professionally, arrive early, and clear your area of
excess personal items.
2. Focus your attention on visitors to the exhibit: invite and
welcome them to view your display. Smile, shake
hands, and introduce yourself.
3. Take turns conversing with visitors about different
sections of your posters. One member of the group should
not dominate the conversation, no matter how eloquent
they are.
4. Encourage visitors to ask questions, so that your
conversation is more interactive than one-sided.

28. Poster Presentation: Oral
1. Before you start, ask your visitors about their familiarity with the exhibit’s
topic and your specific poster content. Avoid making assumptions about
your listeners’ knowledge.
2. Present what is common about your subject matter before presenting your
unique perspective on it (how will they know it’s unique if they don’t know
what’s common?).
3. Move back and forth between your big ideas and your small examples.
Details are important, but only if they fit into a larger context, and a big
idea can only make an impact if you illustrate it with specific details.
4. Observe your audience while you are speaking–do they seem to be
following along? are they showing genuine interest in your work? Change
the direction of your conversation if something doesn’t seem to be going
well.

29. Poster Printing
• Poster Dimensions: 20 inches x 30 inches (landscape or
portrait)
• Print Quality: Matte (@$18 for a 20×30 poster)
• Display Options: Foam core w/ easels or Bulletin boards w/
pins
• WSU Printer Locations: Biomedical Communications Unit
(BCU)
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

30. Poster Design Resources
Available Online
• WSU: How To Create a Poster Using PowerPoint (PDF)
• U of North Colorado: How to Create an Academic Poster (YouTube)
• C.R.A.P. Design Principles (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity)
For Purchase
• ix: Visualizing Composition 2.0
• The Non-Designer’s Design Book

31. Discussion
• How do you use posters in your discipline?
• When thinking about adding posters to your
syllabus, what challenges do you anticipate?
• How do posters meet general learning outcomes in
similar or different ways from traditional essays?
• At what point and to what extent should we educate
students in visual rhetoric and design?